How to heat-treat an O1 knife blade using cheap common tools.
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2013
- THIS PROCESS CAN BE DANGEROUS! WEAR GAUNTLETS, SAFETY GOGGLES AND AN APRON AT ALL TIMES!
Heat-treating a knife blade is actually quite simple, if you just follow 'the recipe'. There's lots of overly-complicated recipes floating around, so I thought I would show you a method that I've used and proven for O1 tool steel.
Here's a list of tools that you'll need:
O1 Tool Steel: amzn.to/1vF0nSo
Channel Locks: amzn.to/1DiN9vw
Bernzomatic MAPP torch: amzn.to/1wiHkvS
Canola Oil (get 3 or 4): amzn.to/1tzQGEF
Quenching container: amzn.to/1sXnsNX
Leather gloves: amzn.to/1wdYb0R
Safety goggles: amzn.to/1FcU7UA
2 Brick forge instructions: www.bladeforums.com/forums/sho...
(K23 firebricks for 2 brick forge, you can get these cheaper locally): amzn.to/1waUvhl
PLEASE NOTE: Doing things of this nature can be extremely dangerous. Use common sense and take every safety precaution to make sure you're not injured.
There is a bit of a code to this:
The "W" in "W1" stands for "water quenching"..
The "O" in "O1" actually stands for "Oil Quenching"...
The "A" in "A2" stands for "Air Quenching"....
The "D" in "D2" means "Die Steel"...
The "S" in "S7" means "Shock Resistant"...
There are many more too, and a number of different systems used in different countries and industries.
OH, my god. Thank you for this info. I had no idea. I've learned 80 times more from your one video.
This provided the most clear instruction on this process that I have ever seen. Thank you.
+Donald Stockton Excellent! Glad it was helpful Donald!
I totally agree with you. I watched a lot of heat treating tutorials but there was no video that contained as much information as this one.
Hi from İstanbul. I just want to know the tempering degree and duration of CK75 (1075) steel if you have any idea of course.
Iam from the phillipines were can i buy your knife..i am an avid fan of your sir...hoping to hear from u...
I just want to say thank you. Your videos inspired me to make knives of my own, and they are infinitely helpful. Keep being awesome, and please keep posting more stuff!
That was one of the most concise heat treating videos ive ever watched! Thank you for sharing!
You are so generous for taking the time to teach people how to make knives for themselves with detailed instructions. I appreciate your videos a ton and I will be sure to recommend your channel to all of my friends that are interested in knife-making/knives.
Thanks for the king words mate! I find it very gratifying to help people get started, hope the videos have been helpful!
I've been watching videos for months now about knifemaking with utter fascination. I recently discovered some of your videos and you are legitimately my biggest inspiration for the craft. Thank you, sir!
Good to hear mate! I'm glad the videos have been helpful!
Glad it helped! It's not the be-all and end-all of heat-treatments, there are other methods that will get more out of the steel, but this is a very good way to get started.
Thanks mate! Really glad you found it inspirational! I'll keep posting videos, don't worry!
As an aspiring knife maker, I value your videos greatly. You go into great detail, giving as much info as one could ask, but also provide info at a level that someone looking to get into the craft can follow. Very well done - thanks a million.
thanks mate! glad the videos have been helpful!
Hey Patrick! Thanks for subscribing.
I generally recommend O1, which is the steel I'm demonstrating in the video. Using this heat-treating process will not get you 'the best blade in the world', but you'll get a knife that's perfectly serviceable.
The reason I recommend O1 is mainly because it's kind of hard to make a mistake with it. Most of the other 'cheap' steels (like 1084) require fast water/brine quenches which can cause cracking and warping if you don't do exactly the right things.
Thankfully someone knows that you can't harden basic steels in stuff like canola oil. Maaybe if it's thin enough. 52100 from ball bearings is also a slightly slower quench thanks to some chrome.
Thanks mate! Sounds good! Always nice to put the finishing touches on those projects!
Thanks mate! The positive feedback keeps me making more videos!
Just planning to get into this and I must say.....I've looked at a lot of "forge" vids and yours is the clearest and simplest....And you're the ONLY one who recommended having a fire extinguisher handy!
+Mark Werner Nice! Thanks Mark! Hope the video was helpful!
This exact process should work just fine for a number of steels including: O1, 5160, 1060 1070, 1080, 1084, and 1095.
It won't work for stainless or high alloy steels.
Be warned though that this is a fairly simple heat-treatment scheme and that you likely won't be getting the full performance out of most steels. It will be good enough for getting a first knife done though! After you're comfortable with the process it's worth the time to learn a bit more about steel and how to heat-treat it.
And invest more in tools.
Thanks Dave! I actually made the hole the same diameter all the way through. Initially I had it smaller, but it seems to work better if you just make it the same the whole way as the flame swirls more nicely.
2 years ago this was the first gough video I watched. It inspired me to make my own coffee can forge to treat some 01 steel. Now you are making the most beautiful knives on a milling machine and HT with your own oven. I LOVE THIS CHANNEL! Thank you so much for your videos.
+Travis Cox Thanks very much for following along Travis!
I have learnt more about knife making from your channel than all the other YT videos combined, you have a natural way of simplifying and teaching the steps. So glad I stumbled upon your channel!! By the way, are you an Australian? Living in Canada now I guess? (sorry, not being nosey or anything, just picked up on the accent)
castortroy365 Thanks man! Glad the videos have been helpful!
Your guess is right on! I moved to Canada in 2006.
The temperature where steel turns non-magnetic is called the 'eutectoid point', in some steels this point corresponds with the right temperature for heat-treatment (1084 and other spring steels for instance) but unfortunately that is not the case for O1. You have to go at least 50º hotter for O1, which is why I mainly talked about the color of the steel.
Using a magnet can be helpful too! Just be aware that you have to got a bit hotter than the magnet says.
Thanks! this is a very useful tip! thanks for being so cool! I love your channel!
Nice! The 2 brick forge really is a great idea, the guy who posted it on the net originally should be very proud of what he spawned!
i love the simplicity of your designs, function defining form, not form limiting function.
Thanks mate! I truly believe that knives are tools and are meant to be used, that view definitely influences my designs heavily.
hi, just watched this,i will be pinching all your ideas and will make them my own,lol. i love your furnace, simple,and amazing.keep up the good, no, great work.
and fyi, methril and stardust are now available in walmart,you just need to be with a qualified dwarf from isingard whose second cousin needs to be a leprechaun to be allowed to buy it, ( for the makers of fairyblades) hope this helps.
would the process be the same for 1084 or 1095 high carbon steel ?
+J woo Yes, both of those steels can be heat-treated using this exact same method.
Thanks mate! They can certainly be a lot of work, but I enjoy the process and the end result, definitely planning on making more!
Absolutely fantastic, I am so glad I found you by way of Trollsky. I am happy you took the time to show people how to set up a cost effective forge and how to use it, along with the cooling. This gives me much more hope to be able to set up my own now.
Awesome! Glad I could help!
It's worth noting too that you can substitute other heat sources. A charcoal BBQ works well for instance. (with lump charcoal)
Could you make a tutorial on building a forge?
It's on my to-do list, but it will be a while most likely!
@@GoughCustom so, do you have a video for it now ? sorry this is the first video i watched
Just hardened my 4th blade using this method. Thanks again Aaron for all that you share with the knife making community. You rock! =)
+Marcus Santer Nice work Marcus! Very glad the video has been helpful!
Crystal clear instructions without wasting a second. Thank you.
+mdirtydogg you're more than welcome mate! Glad the video was helpful!
Thanks Dustin! Glad you found it useful!
Thanks! I think that design is a really great all-rounder!
No worries! Glad you liked it!
Thanks mate, it's appreciated! Many more videos to come!
Hey mate!
The case for the firebricks was made from some scrap sheet steel. It was basically cut to size with a cutting disk in an angle grinder, then bent using a cheap sheet bender (you can use lots of stuff to bend thing sheet, have a look around the net for that part).
The sheet was then drilled and pop-riveted together once the bricks were put in the case.
after watching a couple of your vids i built a jig and am starting to make a couple knifes, and man is it a lot of work, thanks james
Hey James! Yeah it can definitely be quite a lot of work, you'll get faster with more practice though!
Excellent video, you explain everything very well. I have a few 01 blades finished I need to get heat treated, may finally get it done.
Hey Aaron, I have subscribed to your channel recently and must say that I think you ROCK man. So many helpful tips. Great of you to share info on knife manufacture and the like. Keep it up.
Nice, clear video on heat treating steel. I like the wine bucket idea, as I have to treat some small skinny tools and don't want to use a lot of oil- Perfect solution! Also that is about the greatest DIY small forge I've ever seen! ONYA!
+Jean pSmith Cheers mate!
For sure! That's something I've been meaning to do for a while anyway. I'll probably look at doing that later in the week or over the weekend.
-A
Thanks for explaining the safety precautions and the clear reasoning for each tool used. I'm excited to give this a try!
No worries, glad the video was helpful!
Thanks mate! Glad you liked it!
Thanks for taking the time to make this. There is never enough how tos on heat treating
Great stuff, as an apprentice 1961 with Harland & Wolff, Belfast, we did a lot of metal forging & annealing, in the 1st year training school, this brings back a lot of old memories, our tool shop was more in line, with Noah & the Ark, I think if they had you on the titanic it would never have gone down, you & tutors like are doing the world a fantastic wonderland service, thanks & cheers, thumbs up again
Cheers mate! I think it's important to teach people this stuff!
I like how you devised a statistically sound random test. This is a very informative and systematic approach.
Thanks bud!
Thank you for your efforts. We have been working on three knives and have just heat-treated the first two and I am heating up the oven right now to bake it.
Great videos!!!
Awesome! Hope it goes well!
Definitely interested! Post it as a video response to my heat-treat video when you're done!
If only all RUclips tutorials were this comprehensive. 👏🏾👏🏾
another great video mate I will say it again you are a craftsman I like the simplicity of the forge and will try this myself thanks again for your time and knowledge
No worries mate, thanks for watching!
Dude. What a great video. I have been wanting to learn how to temper O1 steel for 4 years. I make dies for swaging and reloading ammunition. Have used Grade 8 bolts because I thought heat treating was too complicated. Now I can use the proper steel and make far better quality tools. THANK YOU
Glad to hear the video is helpful Dan!
I've made your jig for the flat grind...and I loved it, BTW it works amazingly,
I've even made a mod version for longer blades
Thank you
jujijo16 Glad it worked out for you mate!
pretty cool, i havnt seen the process demonstrated in quite this way before and it makes me think of ways i could improvise other manufacturing techniques using more common items
There are definitely lots of cool processes that you can improvise at home if you're willing to take your time! RUclips is such a great resource for things like this!
I would love to! It's something I'm planning to do in the future.
PERFECT video! Direct, to the point, and with no unnecessary blah blah blah. 1-even cherry red 2-test hardness 3-400 degrees for 2 hours. Done! Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge
Ken :-)
+ken barker Thanks Ken! Glad you liked it!
Just wanted to add yet another thanks for a great video, I've been afraid of trying to heat treat myself, but this vid has given me the feeling that I can do it, so thanks!
You can definitely do it! With simpler steels like O1, 5160, 1084 and 1095 it's really just not that hard!
Thanks, really easy to understand when explained properly, you would have made a good teacher. Your videos are the best I have seen and I think I've watched most of them on here. Keep making videos your a true knife making pro.
GAN Thanks mate!
Finally, a good understanding of tempering and hardening. Thank You!
+WVoutdoorsman100 no worries at all mate!
Thank you! You are very kind to teach us these things.
No worries mate! Thanks for watching!
Thanks! Hope you found them useful!
RUclips is amazing place full of awesome people like yourself. People who helps others like me.
Subscribed and liked your channel. Thank you for your work and videos!!!
No worries mate! Thanks for the kind comment, I'm glad the videos have been helpful!
that forge is pretty brilliant.subscribing!
Video was extremely helpful. Thanks.
And thanks for even providing links for example tools and materials used.
Garth S No worries mate! Glad you found the links helpful!
The bricks are quite delicate yes. I made the channels by cutting out a triangle shape with an old handsaw, then using some rough sandpaper (36 grit) attached to a wooden block that was the right shape. A little slow but it worked very well!
Thank-you! And no worries! If you have any other questions just post them here!
Hey Logan!
What you're talking about is generally called edge-quenching. Quite a few makers do it, but I don't think it's the best way to achieve what you're after. When steel is soft (annealed) it's largely made up of a microstructure called pearlite. When it's hardened we change that to a microstructure called martensite. Martensite is much stronger than pearlite. Pearlite is very tough as it's ductile which means that it will bend and stay bent under loads that martensite would shrug off...
Aaron, thanks again, man, for your clear description of this process.
🇬🇧🤍🇦🇺✌️
No worries at all mate!
Very interesting stuff. Part of the reason I am thinking about doing the "edge quenching" is because im not sure if my homebrew forge will get hot enough! It may be easier to just get the edge and grind (saber grind) nice and hot while leaving the spine unhardened. Thanks alot for the informative and prompt response. It helps alot!
Love your videos man. Clear, informative, and to the point. Thanks for posting!
No worries at all Sam!
great straight forward video, clear concise instructions, hats off to you fella !
Glad it was helpful mate!
I didnt know you could quench O1 like that, i thought it was an air hardening steel, thanks, now im all inspired
Thank you! now im feeling much better about attempting this on my own
Love this guy!! The only teacher youl ever need.
Haha thanks Mr. Wombat!
@@GoughCustom welcome sir.my channel is full from favoriting all your videos.you've tought me alot.a great teacher
5 years later and your videos are still passing on wisdom! Thanks a ton for the effort and information, I'm watching this just before I attempt my very first heat treat on some scrap.
Glad to hear mate! Best of luck! Make sure the steel you're using is a heat-treatable grade, not all steel can he hardened.
Lol, the scrap was for practice to get the procedure down, make sure my beer can quench tank would hold up.
Fast forward, successfully treated my first two knives,3/16 thick 2 1/2 wide aisi 01 steel. (Says the sticker on the wrapper)
A heavy tanto chopper 2 in wide, 4 inch blade and a faceted double inch dagger 1.5 inch wide and 4 inch blade.
I did not sand them appropriately before treatment and am paid dearly for it. Hairline crack in my chopper took forever to hand sand out to 600 and I'm still chewing on the dagger when I get time.
@@keithober5278 Good to hear! Sounds like you're making steady progress which is great! Best of luck!
Great video and very helpful. Kudos for the fire extinguisher suggestion as well. Surprising how many people are unprepared for this event.
Thanks! Glad you liked the video!
The fact that you pass along the info passed to you is awesome! Wish there was someone local to take me in as an apprentice. Can you give info on how to hear treat Damascus steel?
Hope you found it helpful!
Heat treating damascus is generally the same as heat-treating one or the other of the steels it's made from. For instance a lot of damascus is made from 1095 and 15N20, in this case you would heat-treat the steel pretty much the same as you would heat-treat 1095. I've never done that personally though so take my advice with a grain of salt!
Excellent safety tips. Keep it up. Very interesting video
+Farshogard Dumasia Thanks mate, I will do my best!
Hi, I can't help but thank you, I'm starting to make some knives and your information is really valuable.
Excellent videos and beautiful knives, a true craftsman you are!
Starfire Technology Thanks very much!
KISS, is the saying and you achieved that in this vid. Well done Gough. Thumbs up.
Cheers!
Very helpful. I new very little before I watched this video. Now I feel that I could safely temper a knife. Thanks!
Excellent mate!
Interesting question, I honestly haven't had to deal with that yet. If it's just a little warped you might want to see if it's just ok as-is. If you want to straighten it then I would re-heat it as you said, straighten it out and then re-quench.
When you quench again you might want to quench in HOT water instead of cold water. Warm water (like 80ºC, 176ºF) will quench slower and help stop your knife from warping or cracking.
very good video, clear, concise, and accurate
g1moore Thank-you!
No worries Justin! It won't give you the 'best heat treat ever', but it gives you an easy and clear place to get started! If you decide to make more knives down the road then it's a good idea to read more into what you can do to get better results.
The 'Resolute' uses 5/32" (4mm) stock. Anti-scale compound stops the steel from losing carbon at the surface. This carbon turns into 'scale' which has to be sanded off, and can also make the steel softer. It's no necessary to use it, but it's easy to use and cheap ($15 per bottle from Brownells, 1 bottle will last at least dozens of knives).
Glad to hear it!
Yep! I'm an Aussie. I actually live in Canada though! Been living here nearly 7 years now.
right on?
BTW. AFTER watching your video. i will say, they are called slip joint pliers. love the 1 glove. haha. very nicely done. i used same setup but my torches were sh!t chyniseiam and i didnt get my 01 hot enough. i will check out more of your videos i just started making knives in ontario. :)
Thanks for an excellent video! This is the best I’ve seen for this part of the process!
No worries Scott!
Yet another great and informative tutorial Thank you Aaron! :) keep um coming!
Thanks! Hope it was helpful!
Best Explanations I've seen. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
There should be a furnace supply or pottery supply place in your area that would have them. Ask for 'k23' bricks, or 'soft white refractory firebricks'.
They are held together with refractory cement (you can get that at home depot). And then I bent a bit of scarp metal sheet to go around them and protect them as they're quite delicate.
Could you do a video on finish sharpening after heat treat. I've been watching all of your videos multiple times and this is the only thing missing for a complete end to end view of the process. Thanks so much for your videos.
Your videos are very informative and interesting thanks for sharing. It is something I would like to try
+Iain MacKenzie No worries at all mate, I hope the videos are helpful!
No worries! There definitely seems to be a lot of bad information floating around about heat-treating, so I figured I would make a video that tried to explain how to do it with all the complexities stripped away. Glad you liked it!
It is yes, I'm not sure if the torch I have would put out enough heat to do it though! You'll also need to be careful to keep moving the torch around so you don't heat up any one area too much.
I'd practice on some scrap steel first, but it should be achievable. You'll use less gas and get a more even heat using some sort of container (like a forge) to contain the heat. Look up 'paint can forge' for a possible alternative.
Great to see another aussie making excellent knives nice work mate. Love your forge idea been stuck for awhile trying to decide and yours makes the most sense tha ks alot brother take care.
+James M Cheers James! Glad the video was helpful mate!
This is an awesome tutorial, glad I ran across it!
Glad it was helpful!
I love all you videos. Thanks for helping me so much.
No worries Caleb! Glad they're helpful!
Fantastic video!
Great video! Excellent flow and excellent explanations. Thank you very much, I subscribed and saved to watch again.
Thanks mate! Glad the video was helpful!
Thanks.. ☀️
Its so fun.. Just starting making a small knife, getting the tools, and startet to graunding yesterday.. Uhh very difficult, but I think I can learn.. Love your videos, and that you show, and not have looooong explor.☃
Regards from Sweden
+Søren Lauritzen Best of luck Søren! I am sure you will do well, it just takes some practice!
Best explanation ever.
You should educate other people how to make tutorials.
Thanks mate! Very glad you liked it!
Very awesome. Well done.